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A group of seven MGH staff members – four nurses, two physicians and a pharmacist – are now in the Philippines to support the recovery efforts following one of the largest typhoons on record.

MGH team deploys to provide expertise, care in Philippines

22/Nov/2013

HELPING HANDS: Merry listens to a resident in the Philippines.

A group of seven MGH staff members – four nurses, two physicians and a pharmacist – are now in the Philippines to support the recovery efforts following one of the largest typhoons on record. On Nov. 17, the group was deployed to Cebu, Central Visayas, with the International Medical Corps (IMC), and they are expected to return to Boston on Dec. 8.

“Since arriving in the Philippines, the IMC team has been providing support and medical care to some of the thousands of people whose lives have been ravaged by one of the largest typhoons on record,” says Hilarie Cranmer, MD, MPH, director of Global Disaster Response in the MGH Center for Global Health. “We are truly honored to have the opportunity to serve those whose lives have been disrupted and ravaged by a powerful natural disaster.”

Typhoon Haiyan hit the region on Nov. 7, bringing 196 mph winds and causing catastrophic destruction – affecting nearly 13 million people across nine regions. The death toll is currently estimated at 4,000 and it continues to rise.

“The MGH’s founding principle, ‘When in distress, every man becomes our neighbor,’ is just as relevant today as it was in 1810 – our neighborhood has just gotten a bit bigger,” says David Bangsberg, MD, MPH, director of the Center for Global Health. “It is incredibly gratifying to see the MGH community rally around this important mission.”